Nottinghamshire hits record high for new businesses despite virus blow

Latest figures show that 804 businesses were established in the town during the course of 2020 – bringing the total number of companies to 4,821.

And despite the considerable economic challenges posed by the pandemic, Nottinghamshire as a whole saw a record year for new business formations.

A total of 8,760 new companies were registered across the county compared to 7,348 during 2019, representing an increase of 19.2 per cent.

This brings the total number of registered companies in Nottinghamshire to 56,199, up from 51,677 at the end of 2019, which equates to 8.8 per cent growth.

John Korchak, operations director at Inform Direct, which carried out the research, said: “It is excellent news to see that Nottinghamshire has achieved a record year for new company formations during 2020 despite the unprecedented uncertainties brought by Covid-19.

“Many of the new company formations are in the retail sector, with a large number of new businesses set up to sell goods online or locally, thereby taking advantage of customers’ changing shopping habits.

"Secondly, the effect of the pandemic and national lockdowns means that sadly some existing businesses have folded and employees made redundant, and we see many of those people setting up new ventures on their own as an alternative way to earn a living.”

Alongside Nottinghamshire’s achievement, the UK as a whole saw a record-breaking 780,766 new businesses formed, compared to 690,763 in 2019.

Mr Korchak added: “2020 was a year like no other for businesses.

"Although we can look forward to a brighter future with the vaccination programme, there remain unknown factors such as how quickly the economy will recover and of course the impact of Brexit.”